Magic Resistance (vs Saving Throws)

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I know this has been asked before (I found an older thread here), but I was trying to figure out the difference between saving throws (ST) and magic resistance (MR), and I have a few unanswered questions relating to MR:

1. If I have, say, 25% MR, what does that mean exactly? Is damage reduced by 25%? Or are my ST’s improved by 25%? Or is it something else?
2. How does MR affect non-damage type spells (eg. hold, confusion, etc.)?
3. Does MR affect spells that are supposed to help you (eg. haste, resist fear, etc.)?
4. Does MR vary depending on the level of the spell being resisted or the level of the spellcaster casting the spell?

Thanks for your help.

 

I think, but am really not sure, since I thought of this myself and haven't read it anywhere (which isn't a good sign), that the MR represents the chance to be unaffected by a spell.
For some reason I always thought this. So when you would throw a horrid wilthing at a 50% magic resistant character, he would have 50% chance to resist or take full damage (or don't resist, but save for half damage).
There is also something called magic damage resistance (belt of inertial barrier) and that is the thing that would only let you receive half (at 50%) damage.
I don't think it affects saves.

 

Magic Resistance is the percentage chance that you can totally ignore an offensive spell or spell effect. A saving throw is a chance as measured by a d20 roll whether or not you can avoid or mitigate a spell effect. Some spells do not allow a saving throw at all (like Magic Missile) or they allow a saving throw for 1/2 damage (like Fireball) or they allow a saving throw to totally avoid the effect (like Charm Person, IIRC.) Some spells impose a penalty on the saving throw. Everyone has saving throws, and they improve as you progress in level. This represents a stronger mind and better reflexes that accompanies experience. Very few character classes or races have Magic Resistance, and some items also increase that resistance. So let's do a few examples:

1: A mage casts Magic Missile at a paladin equipped with Carsomyr (50% MR). If the 50% chance comes out in favor of the Pally, he takes no damage whatsoever. If it doesn't, he takes full damage.

2: Another mage then casts Fireball at said Pally. Again, he has a 50% chance of ignoring the damage altogether. If the MR doesn't protect him, he still gets a d20 roll to take only 10 points of damage if he makes it, 20 if he doesn't.

Resistance protects you from some really nasty spells that don't allow a saving throw, or that can really ruin your day -- things like Imprisonment or Flesh to Stone. I'm big on Resistance -- you couple Carsomyr with the Gaxx ring and a few other goodies, you can get MR in the 80% range, IIRC.

 

And Viccy has 65% natrual resistance (from being a Drow) and you can equip her with some nice stuff to get it up to about 80%. There's a ring in TDD that you can get fairly on that raises her Wisdom by 2 or 3 (I forget) and gives her 25% extra MR. It's sweet because you can get 95% and just walk in to any mage battle with no fear. It's so cheezy your fingers turn orange.

But LKD is right. If you've got 50% MR, then there's is a 50% chance you can walk away from any spell (except Bolt of Glory) unscathed. I always try to get my MR to the utmost on one character, so that way I can get most of the magic focused on that character without any fear.

 

Mystra's Chosen what is TDD?

 

Thanks, guys! You’ve certainly answered my first 2 questions.

What about my last 2 questions?
- does MR affect spells that are supposed to help you (eg. haste, resist fear, etc.)? I suspect not; for example, I don’t ever recall Viccy missing a haste spell. But confirmation would be appreciated.
- does MR vary depending on the level of the spell being resisted or the level of the spellcaster casting the spell? Not particularly important, but I was just curious.

@ Neeraj – TDD is The Darkest Day mod. I don’t have it, but it is apparently buggy.

 

No, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't. It did in BG1 however...

 

MR is not supposed to affect beneficial spells, but some were missed. Between the patches and Baldurdash, I think these are covered though. You can also use the MR bypass of beneficial spells for exploits. The Strength spell, which sets strength to 18, can be cast on adamantite golems to reduce their strength from 25 despite their 100% MR.

MR is not affected by spellcaster level or spell level. However, some spells bypass MR entirely (such as Lower Resist and Pierce Shield).

 

MR affects each spell effect hitting the character. This means that one magic missile could get through it, causing damage, but the other four won't. I've seen protection scrolls fail on characters with MR, but this could be a bug and fixed in later versions.

The fighter kit mageslayer gains MR as does the monk, all of it based on level. Other classes may gain it through magical items.

 

Magic Resistance won't stop imprisonment. You can get Viccy up to 100% resistance. I don't think you can get a character to 80%. Let's see: Carsomyr(50%), Gaxx(10%), Hell Bonus(10%). That's 70% and that is the highest any char can get without using cheats.

There's some other spells it won't work against either. Imprisonment, Power Words, Maze, and some others that I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

Since when did wisdom figure in on magic resistance? I thought the only thing it affects is cleric spells and lore (and some plot dialogue). Are you sure the extra MR wasn't one of the other special effects of this ring?

 

Sorry, I should've clarified. I didn't mean that Wisdom helped, that's just what the ring does.

Rastor - What about that amulet you get in the Bazzare in the Drow city? It grants 10% MR, so 80% is possible.

 

MR does affect benefical spells, I think.
During a fight with Firkraag my Avenger cast mass cure and Korgans MR prefented the spell from taking effect.

But that was the only time I ever noticed this happening.

 

That must have been a bug, because every time I've cast haste, heal spells, or whatever on my group, no one has ever had their MR resist that beneficial spell. In the realm of cheese, some people cast spells that are intended as beneficial on enemies to lower their resistance to subsequent hostile magic. That's stupid.

 

@Jester
You might want to remove that ToB spoiler before Tal sees it.

@Mystra
Forgot about that amulet. Technically, none of that stuff should stack with Carsomyr though.

[I removed it myself.] -Tal

[ October 09, 2003, 10:41: Message edited by: Taluntain ]